Budapest: Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) | Prime Minister’s speech

March 16, 2010

MR. G. PAPANDREOU:  First of all, on the rebirth of the socialist movement, if you like, first of all I would say that around the world there are many countries that have left or social democratic governments. So we should not take Europe as the example, I would say, if you will, to Latin America or to Africa. Even the United States is not socialist, but it’s a somewhat progressive and a big change there with Barack Obama, but in many parts of the world also.

But I believe that we have to go back to some basics of our principles, of our values, but see how we interpret these values in today’s world.

We are a movement that has fought for democracy. We have fought for democracy around the world. I lived in a time when Greece was also a dictatorship; there was a dictatorship in Greece. I saw my father and my grandfather put in jail, because they were fighting for democracy.

Other movements around Latin America and socialist movements have fought for democracy.

But what is democracy today? What does it mean today? To a considerable extent, means the active participation through the electoral process. We have to make sure that there is a strong sense of participation, because that is the strength that our citizens have.

But we also need to see it as trade unions, we need to see our parties, we need to see how citizens can organise, we need to see how we use new technologies such as the Internet to organise people, so that we give a voice to our citizens.

I feel that today particularly the younger generation sees that there are many capabilities around the world. There is a lot of money around the world, there is a lot of knowledge, there is a lot of technology, there is a lot of expertise. They can do many things, but yet they also feel powerless.

So I think first of all our movement has to give more oxygen to our democratic institutions, and more participation and structures, so that people can be involved, from our parties, as I said, to trade unions, to our citizens.

Second I believe is a sense of justice, a simple but very basic concept. We have huge inequalities around the globe: the poverty, the pandemics have created also huge movements of migration. But even in our societies, our developed societies, we have seen the widening of the gap between the richer and the poorer. And I think we need here to give the sense of justice, and particularly in a time of crisis this I think is even more important.

And thirdly, something which is new to our movement, but we have made it central now to our movement and the Socialist International, and is what we call the green economy, in Greece.

Why is that central? Because first of all we need to make sure that we hand over to the next generations a society and an economy and an environment which is viable, that people can live in.

We are facing extreme situations where the next generation may have very, very difficult conditions to live in, as far as climate is concerned.

But secondly, this change into a green economy can be a catalyst for growth. It can help us revamp and change our education system so that we have green jobs, retraining our labour force. It can help us in investments and many types of structures. It can help us in greater autonomy, energy autonomy, and so on. It can open up our economy to be more competitive around the world. So this is also, I think, a very important point.

These, then, are the three key areas where we should focus our efforts.

Now, on the issue of the message that you should have for the Hungarian citizens, I think you know that better than I. I could help you, but I believe that we need to show, and I am sure you are showing this, that we are both a party that is serious and can tackle crises, but also can give a vision of tomorrow, which is more just and can guarantee that we can move out of this crisis and give hope to the development and growth of our societies and our economies.

And when you asked what could be useful for Greece, well, I think it’s useful for Greece is that we in fact have gone through similar crises and we can learn from each other. We can learn from the difficulties we have had, and also the mistakes that have been made in the past, but also the changes that we are making.

And also in solidarity within the European Union, on what is necessary to change the European Union also.

And I believe that the voice of the socialists or social democrats of the left parties are much more vocal in the European Union. We have, and that is what we need: more strong voices in the European Union, about this family that we live in and how we make this family more effective in the world, but also more effective in our societies, for more jobs, for more growth. And this, I think, is very important.

And I can see this even today, where when we are facing this crisis the European Union, yes, we have the expression of solidarity by many, but we also have the difficulties of the institutions which need to be more coordinated. We need more coordination of the European Union on Community policy. We need institutions which will help countries in crisis, such as Greece …

And I believe that we in the left are more ready and more vocal on the necessary changes that should be made in the European Union, in dealing, for example, as you mentioned, with the banks, or in dealing with the financial regulation around the world.

So I think that this is something which is also very important.

I am very happy to see that, I know that there is an important Greek minority here in Hungary and very active. Many of course came to Hungary in very difficult times, during the Cold War and the civil war in Greece, as exiles.

My grandfather had first allowed many to come back from the Soviet bloc to Greece, who were not allowed to return because of the Cold War.

So we have lived through disappointments in your country. I think that what we are saying to the Greek people is that yes, we are disappointed. I am disappointed. I am disappointed about the fact that our country is in this situation, but we must work together to make the changes.

And I think if the people feel that these are changes that are sustainable, they are viable, they will make our country much more competitive, but will also be just changes, so that people feel that they can feel secure, that they can be guaranteed that their health system will be better tomorrow, their education system will be better tomorrow, that they will be able to get jobs. And if the economy is thriving, that they will have a pension system that will be working, that they will not have a lot of bureaucracy, and sometimes with bureaucracy a lot of corruption.

These are things which we are changing, and these are things, I think, that make people hopeful.

And I would simply say on this issue of governance and bureaucracy, which was mentioned earlier, other countries have faced this we have faced a very big bureaucracy. And this bureaucracy also is part of the problem because of the corruption and the existing.

So we have taken some measures. For example, we have very strict rules now on how we employ people in the public sector, so that there is no political, if you like, party political manipulation.

Now we have a law where we have all the decisions we make, and even my signature but also the signatures of every civil servant, will be put on the Web, on the Internet, so that every citizen can see where the money goes and how the decision is made.

And we are also decentralizing, because we had a very centralized system in Greece.

So I would conclude by saying that in this difficult time we need to be working with our citizens, not against them. It is our belief, as socialists and social democrats, that they are our strength. We don’t have our strength of some state bureaucracy or some huge financier.

Our strength is our people’s strength. We are working for them. and even though it’s difficult medicine that we are taking, as long as it’s in the right direction. And in the end we are strengthening our people, and I think this is the message we must give in these difficult times. Thank you.